


If You Like Piña Coladas

by ReplacementRobin



Series: JayTim Week 2020 [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cameos, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Meet-Cute, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Sort Of, Tim Drake/Jason Todd-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24475813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReplacementRobin/pseuds/ReplacementRobin
Summary: “Alright!” Professor Quinn says, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention, “Your end of year project is a research assignment on the work we’ve done this term, I expect a minimum of four thousand words. The due date is July 13th,” Three months from now, it was a lot of work, but doable, “You will be doing it in pairs.” Jason wouldn’t have been able to suppress his groan if you paid him.OrFor Jason's end of year psych class he has to do a much dreaded group project, he really did not expect his assigned partner to be this cute.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: JayTim Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767865
Comments: 15
Kudos: 157
Collections: JayTimWeek





	If You Like Piña Coladas

Jason sits on the uncomfortable chair and tries to pay attention as the professor drones on about their most recent essay, although he didn’t see much reason to listen. Jason had got 92% for it, and the lecture was clearly aimed at the kids who were barely scraping by. The only reason any of them were even in this college course was because their parents were loaded and had funded a new wing of the library, or something.

“Alright!” Professor Quinn says, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention, “Your end of year project is a research assignment on the work we’ve done this term, I expect a minimum of four thousand words. The due date is July 13th,” Three months from now, it was a lot of work, but doable, “You will be doing it in pairs.”

Jason wouldn’t have been able to suppress his groan if you paid him. He has absolutely no interest in having his grade rely on some upper class brat. Of course there was always a small chance he’d end up with someone who’d actually earned their position here. All he could do was cross his fingers and hope for the best.

Dr Quinn starts putting people in pairs,“Mr. Todd, you will be going with-” she reaches into the bucket and pulls out another name, “-Mr. Drake.” 

Jason doesn’t recognize the name, so he looks around the classroom with narrowed eyes trying to find his partner. A guy with a mop of black hair is staring at him, and he assumes it must be Drake. He is wearing a blue, preppy looking sweater, and even from the other side of the lecture hall Jason can instantly tell he was from money. There goes his chances of not having to do 90% of the project. Dr. Quinn finishes pairing people up, then dismisses the class.

Jason’s seat is pretty close to the door, so he’s outside and waiting for Tim for a minute or two before Tim emerges. The boy looks around, and when he spots Jason he walks over to him. Now that he’s closer, Jason can see that he’s definitely attractive, you could almost describe him as pretty. He has big gray blue eyes, high cheekbones, and soft looking full lips, he’s also shorter than Jason by a good half a foot.

“Hey,” Tim says in a smooth voice, and Jason blinks realising he’s been staring.

“Are you Drake?” Jason asks without preamble.

“Yeah, but you can call me Tim,” The boy replies.

“Sure. What days are you free?” He asks, not particularly enthused.

Tim tilts his head, eyebrows furrowing as he thinks through his schedule, “Tuesdays and Fridays.”

Jason nods, “Fridays work for me”

“The campus library is usually pretty empty at about 12, if that’s ok for you?”

Jason is surprised that Tim even knows where the library is, nevermind when it’s emptiest, “Yeah, that’s good for me,” He says, wondering how accurate his first impression of Tim had really been.

Tim nods and they just stare at each other for a moment before Jason clears his throat and says something, “See you Friday,” and with that parting remark, he brushes past the guy and heads to his next lecture. Tim had been… different to what he’d expected, and not in a bad way, he almost felt eager to see him again.

____

Jason’s suspicion that Tim was nothing like he'd first assumed is proven correct, when four days later he walks into the library to find Tim already at a table, pile of relevant books next to him, and notepad open with a few ideas already jotted down.

Tim gives him a small smile as he approaches, starting to talk before Jason’s even managed to pull his own notebook out. Jason is pleasantly surprised to find out Tim's ideas are decent, actually, they're pretty goddamn good. They spend the hour they both have free constructing a basic outline, and by the time they’re done, Jason is convinced that Tim will be pulling his weight. 

____

They meet up 3 more times, and are making steady progress through the project before anything changes. Tim has deep purple rings under his eyes today, and he looks completely exhausted, the only explanation he gives is, “Deadlines.” But that's enough for Jason to nod in understanding and sympathy.

“Do you want to go get some coffee?” Jason asks tentatively.

Tim jerks his head up from the page he’s been staring at blankly for the last 5 minutes to look at him, “ _Please._ ”

Jason chuckles at the longing tone in his response. “I know a great cafe that does coffee next to campus. We can just cut today a little short, we’re ahead of schedule anyway.”

Tim nods, already shoving his books back into his bag. They get to the cafe in record time. Tim grabs them a table while Jason goes to get their drinks. When he gets back he hands Tim his cup, “One black coffee for the most sleep deprived student on campus.”

Tim takes the cup of coffee from him with a look of pure reverence in his eyes, “Oh my god, I love you.” Blood rushes to Jason’s cheeks in a bright blush, but luckily Tim’s too distracted by his coffee to notice. After he’s downed half his cup, and looks a little more awake than before, Jason decides he’s fit for conversation. 

They talk about how Tim's parents wanted him to get a business degree, but he decided to go with a Psychology and Criminology combo instead, about how Jason ended up doing Psychology and Literature, and that Tim also grew up in Gotham - albeit in a very different neighborhood than Jason had.

“So,” Jason tries to ask casually, “do you have a girlfriend?”

Tim pauses for a moment and then bursts out laughing. Jason looks at him confused and a little insulted by Tim’s reaction before Tim explains, “I’m about as straight as a rainbow, Jay.”

The nickname gives Jason a warm feeling in his chest that he decides to ignore for now, and instead focuses on the fact that Tim is into guys, which means that theoretically his chances of Tim saying yes to a date have just improved dramatically.

Before he manages to ask if Tim has a boyfriend, Tim asks him about one of his set books, and Jason gets so into his explanation of it, that he completely forgets until they’ve already parted ways.

______

They meet up for coffee a lot more often after that, sometimes after the designated work hour, sometimes in whatever time they’re both free. Jason never gets around to asking about the boyfriend, but he gets his answer anyway. 

They’re grabbing coffee together a few weeks later when Jason gets his hopes shattered.

“I’m not going to be able to make it tomorrow,” Tim says before taking a big sip of his drink.

Jason can’t help the pang of disappointment he feels, “Oh?” He asks, waiting for Tim to elaborate.

“I’m driving up to smallville to see somebody.”

Smallville is a solid 5 hour drive from here, Jason is interested in who warrants that much gas money, “That’s a long drive, must be someone special.”

“Yeah, he is,” Tim says with a fond smile. He says something else about Hawaii and travelling, but Jason’s no longer really listening, too distracted by the way his heart has just been crushed. A boyfriend. Tim has a boyfriend.

They say their goodbyes soon after and head home, and if Tim notices how strained Jason’s smile is, he doesn’t say anything. 

___

The moment Jason arrives back at his shitty apartment Roy looks up from where he ‘s playing video games on the couch, takes one look at his roommate's expression and says, “I’ll get the ice cream,” resigning himself to comfort a heartbroken Jason. Usually it’s the other way round, with Roy being the one sobbing into a tub of Ben & Jerry’s, talking about Kory, Jade, or whoever's broken his heart this time, but Roy’s always been a pretty adaptable guy. 

Jason is mopey for the rest of the week, he doesn’t want to be, but he can’t help it, and at this point Roy has given him so much comfort food he’s starting to worry for his health. But Jason can’t hide away from reality behind Roy and tubs of cookies and cream. They’re friends, just friends. It’s something Jason never thought he’d say about the other boy in the first place, but now he can’t help but secretly wish they were more... 

___

He’d tried to squash down the feelings, Tim had a boyfriend for god's sake! But with every smile and bump of their shoulders as they sat next to each other working on Tims computer the butterflies he couldn’t help but feel when he looked at the boy had worsened.

“How was it?” Jason asks as they settle down for their next meeting.

“Great,” Tim replies smiling, “It feels like I haven’t got to see Kon outside of a computer screen forever, so it was nice being face to face.”

Kon, so that was the boyfriend's name. Jason can’t help but feel an irrational stab of dislike for this guy he’s never even met. Usually Jason would ask for more details, eager to hear about something that has clearly made Tim happy, but this time he really doesn’t want to know, so instead he just nods and pulls out his notebook

Jason knows he’s being weirdly unenthusiastic, but he can’t help it, being this close to Tim and knowing he has absolutely no chance is making his heart clench painfully.

About twenty minutes in, Tim turns to him with a frown, “What is it?” He asks.

“What’s what?”

“Whatever is making you be all,” He waves at Jason with an encompassing gesture.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He says, aware that he’s being petulant.

“Is this about me not being able to come last week?”

“Why would I be bothered about that, you’re allowed to visit your boyfriend,” Jason replies, trying his hardest to appear nonchalant..

“Wait _what_ ,” Tim replies, “Kon’s not my boyfriend!” He says insistently.

“He’s not?” Jason asks, confused.

“Kon is just a close friend, it’s nothing like that,” he makes eye contact with Jason, as if to emphasize his next words “I am completely, and utterly, 100% single.”

“Oh,” Jason replies unintelligently.

Tim opens his mouth as if to say something else, when a shushing noise interrupts him. The librarian, Miss Gordan, has popped her head around a bookshelf and makes a ‘be quiet’ gesture at them. Clearly their conversation had been louder than they’d realized.

Whatever moment they were having has been broken, and they return to their work. Jason is still pretty quiet, but this time it’s more giddy than sulky.

___

It all comes to a tipping point on the day they send in the assignment. They’re sitting in the library, shoulder to shoulder, as Tim links the assignment in an email and sends it off to their professor. He turns to Jason, a wide smile on his face, “We did it!”

Before Jason can really think about it, he’s leaning forward, one hand cupping Tim’s cheek. He stops himself a scant few inches from Tim's lips, and asks softly, “Can I kiss you?” Instead of an answer Tim surges forward, closing the small distance between them.

Their noses bump and their teeth clack for a moment before they fall into the rhythm of the kiss. It’s sort of awkward with them sitting next to each other like this, but it’s also perfect, both of them getting lost in the moment. 

They both pull away sharply when they hear a throat being cleared, and turn to see Miss Gordan standing there, an unimpressed look on her face, “As glad as I am that you two finally got together, I don’t appreciate you doing it in my library. If you want to continue, I suggest you take it elsewhere.” 

They’re both blushing bright red as they mumble out a “yes ma’am.” She narrows her eyes before nodding and walking away. They both grab their bags and rush out the building. The moment they’ve made it out the front door Jason bursts out laughing, and Tim lets out his own smaller chuckle. “Oh my god, I can’t believe we got caught making out by the librarian!” Jason exclaims, still laughing.

Once their laughter dies down, and they’re just grinning at each other, Jason speaks again, “Go on a date with me?”

“I’d love to,” Tim says, his grin somehow increasing.

____

They get a 98 on the assignment, they also get kicked out of multiple university buildings and coffee shops for what management call ‘public indecency’ and Jason refers to as “PDA”. Their only regret is that they could have already been doing this for months.

___

Their first date is a picnic in the park, it starts raining halfway through and they end up soaking wet and hiding under the awning of a shop.

“I’m sorry Tim, this was probably the worst date ever,” Jason says sullenly. The rain has plastered his hair to his forehead and he reminds Tim of a wet puppy.

“Hey,” Tim says, touching his arm, “it was wonderful, Jay.”

“Really?” Jason asks incredulously.

“Really,” Tim gives him a coy look, “You know, I’ve always wanted to kiss someone in the rain.”

“Really?” Jason asks again, but this time his tone is completely different, “Well, I just might be able to arrange that.” He drops the picnic basket and pulls Tim out from under the awning and onto the empty sidewalk.

Tim laughs, and stands on his tip toes as Jason bends to meet him halfway. It’s just as perfect as any romance film Tim's ever watched made it out to be.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh! Jaytim week is here! This is the first challenge of any kind I’ve ever participated in and I’m really excited to be joining in!
> 
> Thank you so much to TatsuChan for being an incredible beta! I really could not have got this all done without  
> you x
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoy, and any kudos or comments you may choose to leave will be deeply appreciated :)


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